Nokia and AT&T Partner for Developer Contest, $10 Million in Cash and Prizes for Devs

Nokia and AT&T have just given a huge incentive for developers to get coding: $10 million in cash and prizes. Both of the companies will be selecting the top mobile applications for prizes and cash, along with consumers who will help pick winners. This also gives me the feeling that the Nokia N8 might be hitting a certain U.S. carrier in the near future.

According to Nokia:

The 2010 Calling All Innovators, North America contest is open to developers from around the world to create apps for North American consumers. All submitted apps will be made available exclusively for download via the Ovi Store by Nokia which is filled with thousands of apps, games and media from the content industry’s biggest names along with independent developers. With AT&T as the exclusive co-judge, developers have a unique opportunity to get started today developing for the latest Nokia devices including the Nokia N8.

AT&T as the exclusive co-judge? It’s difficult to imagine the N8 not being carried and subsidized by the carrier. Both AT&T and the Finnish manufacturer will also be offering a free session to developers during this year’s CTIA in San Francisco.

Are you a developer curious about the rules and exactly what you’ll have to do to get a chance at the cash or prizes? Here’s more from the folks in Finland:

Developers have until January 28th, 2011, to submit their applications in more than 17 categories. For the first time, consumers will contribute to the finalist selection process by “voting” with their download power; the number of downloads – both free and paid – counts as part of the winning criteria. The final judging will be made by Nokia and AT&T where three winners in each category will be selected. Additionally, an overall contest app and game will be selected as grand prize winners. Category prize winners receive USD 150K each for a total of USD 4 million and grand prize winners receive an additional USD 100K each. Although submissions must be relevant for the North American consumer, developers from around the world can participate.

So, we have a partnership between Nokia and AT&T, the device that devs will be developing for is the N8, and the submissions have to be relevant for the North American consumer. Yeah, it’s pretty much clear as day here that the camera phone (because let’s face it, on paper and in photo/video demos the N8’s biggest strength appears to be its 12MP shooter) is heading to the States via AT&T.

Do we need any more evidence than this short of Stephen Elop and crew and/or AT&T making a more official announcement?